Walking around the conventions in Cleveland and Philadelphia one could see that there have been many changes in class and culture both inside and outside of the parties in the last fifty years. Many of you remember back in the ?60s when those of us who marched for civil rights and against the war in Viet Nam were dismissed as bearded beatniks and hairy hippies by working class men. Now they've become what they said we were.

We were told that 500 Cleveland police and 2,800 police from elsewhere were keeping the protests peaceful. They slept in the dorms of the local colleges and were moved around in local school buses. These were the friendliest police I have ever seen at a protest. They spoke with the various march leaders as though they were working for the tourist bureau. Only the members of the Pennsylvania State Police were added to the Philadelphia police. While their numbers waxed and waned, police presence in the street was no greater than in a normal protest.

Founded by anti-clerical French revolutionaries to celebrate the glory of science, it is no small irony that the museum is now partially housed in the former abbey church of Saint Martin des Champs. The museum's collection originated with a selection of mechanical contraptions bequeathed to Louis XVI by the mechanical engineer Jacques Vaucanson, inventor of the most renowned automaton of the 18th century, a talking, flapping mechanical duck.

But the Berniers I listened to in the downtown rallies and in FDR park were more sad than celebratory, more angry than uplifted. They wanted red meat, not Tofurky. This went beyond what I saw in 2008, when Hillary?s dedicated supporters were disappointed that she wasn?t heading the Democratic ticket, or even in the second spot. The latter were in mourning, not out for revenge.

In this current period of my life, with my morning journaling as sacred as a religious rite, I also read a page taken from past years. I do this because I want to learn my patterns ? worries that never came to pass, prophetic musings, and other buried gold. Because of my daily journaling and the The Rookie Caregiver blog I was writing at the time, I had been able to release most of the shadows, fear, and grief.

The precipitating event of the lives intertwined like threads in primitive needlework is the tragedy on their wedding eve of a fatal explosion that destroys the young couple, sons and a lover. The bereavements leave behind survivors who are forever changed. Even the landscape where the exploded house once stood is forever wiped out. Each chapter is told from the point of view of one of the individuals whose existence has been altered beyond their own and others? comprehension.

General Mills has recalled several types of flour due to E. coli illnesses the US Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have linked to eating uncooked dough and batter made with raw flour. See link to the FDA for additional recalls.

Jo Freeman writes: I went to that party after writing this story in a tent sponsored by the Alliance for American Manufacturing, which has comfortable couches and free drinks. The AAM is an alliance of the National Association of Manufacturers and several unions, including the United Auto Workers, of which I am a member (via Local 1981 ? the National Writers Union). Their slogan is KEEP IT MADE IN AMERICA. The Donald might agree with that.

"Medicare fraud has infected every facet of our health care system, said US Attorney Ferrer. "As a result of our unrelenting efforts to combat these pernicious schemes, the Criminal Division, the US Attorney's Office and our law enforcement partners continue to identify and prosecute the criminals who, driven by greed, steal from a program meant for our aged and infirmed to increase their personal wealth."

"Political conventions attract strange bedfellows. Over the weekend preceding the Republican Convention, two other conventions met to talk about issues that were almost polar opposites to those of the Republicans. Both were held in black Baptist churches. The traditional Sunday protest march was small and peaceful."   

Emery Brown's research provides insight into why the doses required to achieve an anesthetic state differ among age groups. In one study, the anesthetic-induced brain waves of older adults were two to three times smaller than those of younger ones. As we age, Brown explains, brain cells function at a lower level, so weaker brain waves can disrupt their activity and cause unconsciousness.

Many states are trying to make it easier for frail seniors to stay in their homes ? as many prefer ? instead of moving into more costly nursing homes. In Minnesota nursing home beds have been cut more than a third as the state focuses on its home and community-based care system. In Hawaii, the state set up a program offering frail older adults in-home services at no charge.  

"I'm not a member of an organized party.  I'm a Democrat." If Will Rogers had said this today he would be describing the Republican convention in Cleveland, or at least the preconvention meetings. Although organizing for these meetings starts long before the actual convention, the lack of organization, multiple mistakes and repeated shifts of direction is unlike the traditional Republican style of being well put together.

"Veterans, political outsiders, faith leaders and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump?s family members will lead an unconventional lineup of speakers who have real-world experience and will make a serious case against the status quo and for an agenda that will make America great again."

Regarded as one of Brazil's most accomplished contemporary artists, Varejão often references cultural and historic research through an intense investigation into anthropology, colonial trade, demography, and racial identity. She is especially influenced by theories of mestizaje (a term for the mixing of ancestries) and cultural anthropophagy ? as proposed by the Brazilian poet Oswald de Andrade.

Roberta McReynolds writes: It never fails. Just in case you have never personally experienced the 'cutting table wait', the odds are that no matter how many people are ahead of you, the person who is buying a shopping cart filled to capacity with quilting fabric will have edged ahead of you by a nanosecond. You will end up cursing yourself for wasting that extra minute after getting distracted by a sale on yarn, a special on notions, or some other devious merchandise display.

"Liberal Democrats reacted negatively to Johnson as a wheeler-dealer, and Robert Kennedy, as the campaign manager, had given his word to labor leaders and civil rights groups that Johnson would never be the vice-presidential candidate. When John Kennedy reported that he would offer the second spot to Johnson, his brother interpreted the move as only a token gesture of party solidarity, since Johnson had told people he would never accept the second spot. Then Johnson astonished both brothers by accepting."

Violence Against Women ? On Wednesday July 13th, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing on Campus Safety, Improving Prevention and Response Efforts. The hearing is scheduled for 2:45 pyem, Eastern. Also on Wednesday, a Senate Foreign RElations Subcommittee will hold hearings on "Zika in the Western Hemisphere: Risks and Responses."

Jo Freeman writes: For months now I've been listening to the pundits and the polls that say people don?t trust Hillary Clinton. It's a very popular topic and has been for years. These feelings aren't about trust. They are about power. They are a mask for people?s basic discomfort with a woman having a lot of power ? even one everyone admits is exceptionally well qualified to hold the highest office in the land.

Like fireworks bursting through a smoky haze, protostars ignite within colossal filaments of gas in a new supercomputer simulation of stars forming inside molecular clouds. The simulation covers 700,000 years, and is based on computer code created by UC Berkeley astrophysicist Richard Klein to capture the effects of radiation, magnetic fields, gravity and other physical phenomena and paint a realistic portrait of star formation.

"We can send people to the moon. We can explore the vast depths of our oceans. We can build great cities and towering structures. We can even talk to our computers. We have achieved greatness in many areas. But on the issue of gender imbalance, while there has been progress in the UK and around the world, far more needs to be done."

" ... Stevens received few accolades for her efforts in piecing together chromosomal sex determination. This was due in part to her early death, in 1912, from breast cancer ? a mere seven years after her work was published. Conflicting views made the scientific community slow to accept her conclusions, which today are recognized as pioneering."

States' detailed data systems have revealed that more education doesn't always mean higher earnings. More technical programs generally have a greater payoff in the labor market. If a journalism major instead chose an associate's degree program and learned to repair industrial equipment, she could be earning $58,000 three years out of school. State data systems that track post-graduate employment rates have their limits. Only a handful of states include student debt information, for instance.

Rose Madeline Mula writes: In the fantasy world of my mind, I can still climb endless flights of stairs without losing my breath; I can walk ? even jog ? for miles; I can get down on the floor and, even more important, get up again. I can get in and out of a car without having passers-by rushing over to help. When I go to an airport, attendants don't run to greet me at the door proffering wheel chairs. Old geezers with walkers don't offer me their seats on crowded busses.